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This Black Father Is Attracting Minority Boys To Technology Using Sports

A black father who lives in Seattle, Washington is using an innovative approach to getting more black and Latino boys interested in technology.

Very recently, GeekWire profiled a man named Eric Osborne (pictured). Osborne is an account director for an international staffing agency called Aquent. He also is the co-founder of a non-profit organization called HERE Seattle. This organization’s primary objective is to create more opportunities for minority boys to learn more about technology.

Technological advances are rapidly changing the world. Many industries are being reshaped by these advances and all this revolutionary industrial activity is creating an abundance of new jobs that have never been performed before. The majority of the people who are performing these high-paying jobs in technology are white males.

Osborne is trying to change that by using a medium that many black and Latino boys naturally gravitate towards: Sports. Osborne himself entered college on a basketball scholarship. He grew up in the West Palm Beach, Florida area. HERE Seattle is very much engaged in athletics activities for minority boys.

For many of these boys, sports is the only ticket for them to get into college one day. Many of the great jobs in technology require a college degree. Osborne’s 13-year-old daughter is enrolled in a very good all-girls nonprofit program called Techbridge that is centered on teaching children more about technology.

However, Osborne sees a shortfall in the Puget Sound area as it pertains to attracting minority boys to technology. The playing field is not too level in the region.

“If the tech industry can do more outreach for young African American and Latino males to open the door to those young kids, I think the needle will start moving and the kids will want to be part of the industry and affecting the pipeline [into employment],” Osborne said in an exclusive interview with GeekWire.